Major League Soccer’s best team had the weekend off as it prepared for its CONCACAF Champions League final exam in Monterrey, Mexico, but the gap between Real Salt Lake and the rest of the league remained considerable.

The Los Angeles Galaxy rise to a distant second but deserve significant credit for going unbeaten on a three-game road trip without captain Landon Donovan, especially after grinding out a 2-1 win at Chicago with only half its usual starting lineup on the field.

“At this stage of the season, with what we’ve dealt with, with injuries and the road games and the situations we’ve had to deal with, ... (to) have 12 points after seven games isn’t bad,” L.A. coach Bruce Arena told reporters.

The largest sigh of relief last weekend came from New York, where the highly touted Red Bulls finally got on track—and got some revenge—with a 3-0 win over playoff tormentors San Jose. The final goal came courtesy of Thierry Henry, under pressure to start justifying his $5.6 million salary.

Last year’s MLS Cup finalists, meanwhile, are suffering a bit of a hangover. Colorado has lost two consecutive games, and FC Dallas is far off its 2010 pace and was beaten 3-2 by expansion Portland on Sunday night.

(Last week's ranking in parentheses)

1. Real Salt Lake (Last week: 1). RSL (4-0-0) play at Monterrey in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League finals on Wednesday. MLS clubs, however, are 0-21-3 all-time in Mexico.

2. Los Angeles Galaxy (3). Coach Bruce Arena said Brazilian defender Leonardo might miss the rest of the season for L.A. (3-1-3) after sustaining an undisclosed injury on Sunday.

3. Philadelphia Union (4). The Union still is in first place in the East at 3-1-1 after Saturday’s tie with Seattle. Sebastien Le Toux and Danny Mwanga, Philly’s leading scorers in 2010, have been shut out this spring.

4. New York Red Bulls (6). Luke Rodgers was named MLS Player of the Week after scoring the first two goals and assisting on the third in the 3-0 defeat of San Jose.

5. Colorado Rapids (2). The champs fall after shutout losses to revenge-minded FC Dallas and top-ranked RSL. The Rapids (3-2-0) play host to Seattle on Friday.

6. Houston Dynamo (12). Hunter Freeman’s winning goal against New England might have come off his arm, but the Dynamo (2-1-2) has won two straight and is undefeated in its last four.

7. D.C. United (14). Charlie Davies scored his league-leading fifth goal in a 3-0 rout at Toronto. United (2-2-1) didn’t have seven points until the 11th game of 2010.

8. Columbus Crew (16). The punchless Crew (2-1-2) is unbeaten since the season opener thanks to a defense that has produced four consecutive shutouts.

9. Portland Timbers (18). What a difference the home crowd makes. Portland (2-2-1) opened raucous Jeld-Wen Field and rang up seven goals in wins over Chicago and Dallas.